


Rage Against the Dying of the Light

by Lyl



Category: Dark Angel
Genre: Alternate Future, F/M, Non-Canon Pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-19
Updated: 2010-07-19
Packaged: 2017-10-10 16:29:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/101776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyl/pseuds/Lyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec's having a really bad week, and he's cursing Manticore's geneticists down to his very last base pair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rage Against the Dying of the Light

**Author's Note:**

> Some off-screen non-con is mentioned, but never described.

_What a fucking mess._

Alec can feel his muscles bunching with every whimper and sniffle that reaches him from across the room. He’s sitting as far from her as possible, curled in on himself, trying to control every twitch and every breath. It’s not working.

His instincts are telling him to get up and go to her, that his mate is upset and in trouble, but Alec’s stronger than his instincts. He’s not going to let them control him, especially in a room full of transgenics. The rage he’s feeling helps a lot.

He’s been cradling his head in his hands since he first sat down, pushing his palms into his eyes with the vague hope that it will ease the images from the past few days that seem seared into his brain.

“-but he’s mine,” he hears from across the room, his senses zeroing in on the voice that has imprinted on him. Violent rage and helplessness swell in him, and he’s clenching his fingers in his hair, unaware of the growl rumbling up and out of his chest.

He needs to get control, and fast. Alec knows this with every fiber of his being. Right now it’s a toss up on which part of him would win out – the instinct to protect or the need for vengeance and blood.

A familiar scent pulls him away from the edge, and Alec dares a look up when he feels a small hand on his knee. He’s never been more happy to see Gem crouching in front of him than right at this moment.

Almost without thought, he lunges forward, burying his face in her neck, inhaling the scent of family and home and pack. It calms him like nothing else has, and is grateful that she’s there. He doesn’t have many members of his unit from back at Manticore, but Gem is one of them. His trusted second who has always had his back.

Alec feels several more familiar presences around him, and his muscles ease as he’s surrounded by the rest of his unit. His family.

“Are we ready to start?” calls out a voice Alec recognizes as Brix, the X-5 running this get-together. The rest of the X-5 and X-6 unit leaders are seated behind Brix, waiting to hear the specifics of what’s brought them all here. Council meetings aren’t called without serious cause, a habit left over from Manticore when gatherings of this magnitude were harder to hide. But this is their way – a Council made up of a representative from each unit, to listen and pass judgement on issues that are too big to be handles by the units. Or when something affects their entire population, as is the case here.

Protocols were ignored and one of their most important and oldest rules was broken. Alec knows that this has to air in front of their whole population to prevent it from happening again, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it.

Alec nods his head and sits up straight, no matter how much he wants to stay wrapped around Gem. She stands up, unstrapping Ali from her sling and handing the baby to Alec. He hopes it’s enough to keep him grounded while they discuss his situation.

Right. ‘Situation’. That word doesn’t even begin to describe the giant clusterfuck he’s found himself in.

“We’re good to go,” announces Gem, moving to the front of the room. Alec hasn’t been able to really talk to Gem about what happened, but he figures she’s gotten the gist of it since his first, panicked phone call four hours ago. And she wouldn’t be any kind of 2IC if she hadn’t done some digging of her own since then.

“Is there a representative from Dee’s unit?” asks Brix. Alec doesn’t even bother to look over at the small huddle of X-6’s being watched by another unit of X-5’s. Looking at the X-6 – at Dee – is only going to set him off again. He doesn’t need to look at the girl –and she is a girl – that has completely messed up his life.

A dark haired X-6 pulls away from the wall, walking to stand opposite Gem. Alec doesn’t think she’s from Dee’s unit, but the X-6’s aren’t as familiar to him.

“We have Gem for Alec, and Mel for Dee,” announces Brix. “What are the formal charges?” he asks Gem.

“Unlawful mating. Without consent,” she says in a hard voice. Murmurs start spreading through the assembled X’s as some of them start to put the pieces together. Every X-series in Terminal City called to a Council meeting, right after Alec had been AWOL for days. Doesn’t take a genius.

“Can you clarify?” asks Brix. Alec knows it’s more out of a need to make sure everyone knows exactly what’s going on, than any real uncertainty on his part. The Council doesn’t come together without some explanation beforehand.

“Dee wanted to mate, Alec wanted nothing to do with her,” explains Gem, her voice carrying throughout the room. “Three days ago she called to ask him to come fix something at her place. He arrived, not knowing she was in heat.” Gem doesn’t bother filling in the rest, because they all know how it played out. Transgenic males have no control when a female is in heat – the pheromones are too strong, overriding every other instinct and thought process in favour of mating.

Alec has to close his eyes against the looping images in his head; skin and heat and sweat and sex, all pilling on top of the other in a blur. He only has vague memories of being coherent these past few days, usually when the hormones cleared enough for him to think, but not enough for him to act.

There was a reason Manticore put females into lockdown during heat, and this experience was a splash of reality for him and everyone else.

“No – he’s mine. He said he was mine!”

Alec felt another growl roll out of his throat, the urge to go to her almost overwhelming. He still doesn’t know whether it was to be with her, or kill her.

Two different hands grip his shoulders keeping him seated, and Alec’s glad his unit is there. Their scent and their presence are keeping him from the edge, and by the worried looks he catches being passed around the room, the other X’s know it, too.

“Be quiet!” The order has Alec’s attention snapping back to Gem and the Council, surprised to see it had come from the other X-6, Mel. Her full attention is on where Alec assumes Dee is, but he won’t look over there to confirm. Like most of the X-5’s, he’s watching Mel. She’s not backing down; is, in fact, forcing Dee to back down with the strength of her will alone. It’s a trick female X-5’s had picked up fairly quickly at Manticore – a way to win the dominance game without fighting like the males – but so far there hasn’t been any sign of it in the X-6 generation.

Seems that’s changing. It was something everyone will have to deal with later, but not now. Definitely, not now.

“Counter arguments?” asks Brix when Mel turns her attention back to the proceedings, the other X-6 sufficiently cowed for the moment. Or so Alec assumes.

“Dee claims the mating was consensual, and that Alec came of his own volition.”

Alec is stunned, his mind refusing to process the words. “Bullshit!” Seems his mouth doesn’t have any problems, though.

“I agree,” says Gem, glaring at Mel, then at Dee. Alec thinks that no matter how this turns out, Dee had better watch her back; Gem is pissed.

“Mel?” prods Brix, looking at the X-6 curiously. “You said ‘Dee claims’. You don’t agree?” Alec kicks himself for not picking up on the phrasing earlier, but his brain hasn’t been functioning at full capacity since he peeled himself away from Dee early this morning. Three showers and half a bottle of whiskey haven’t helped him to regain his stability.

“I questioned her unit and others, and no one knew anything about a possible mating. So unless Alec said something to his unit—“ Gem shakes her head ‘no’, “—then this was an unlawful mating.”

Alec slumps in relief, because the biggest hurdle had just been jumped. Mating - especially a mating in heat - requires that certain protocols be followed, the most important one being to inform the units of the transgenics involved. It’s a holdover from Manticore, when the mating pair needed their units to run interference between them and the guards. The same rules still apply out here, but more out of a need to keep an eye on each other.

Apparently half of Terminal City had torn Seattle apart looking for him when he’d disappeared.

“Then the charge of unlawful mating is accepted, as is the charge of ‘without consent’,” announces Brix after a look at the unit leaders behind him. When your own representative admits your guilt, there’s really no point in debating it further. Any problems that Mel will have because of this are hers, which she seems to know as she looks back at Dee, her jaw clenched tight.

The acceptance of the ‘without consent’ charge is really no surprise. Heat takes away any ability to consent to a mating, which makes the protocols and rules all the more important.

All movement in the room stills with Brix’s declaration because they all know the same thing Alec does. The only certain way to break a mating, especially one that begins in heat, is death. As the wronged party in this debacle, Alec knows it won’t be him.

The crying across the room starts up again, but this time it’s despair, not longing. It still pulls at his instincts, and Alec shifts the baby in his arms until Ali is snug against his shoulder, close enough for him to get her scent in his nose.

_This_ is his family. _This_ is his pack. Not that child who took advantage of him and his genetics. His skin is still crawling, and he wonders if he’ll ever feel clean again.

“What punishment do you demand?” Brix asks Gem, sounding weary. They all know she could demand Dee’s death and it would be given, but Alec is tired of losing transgenics. He doesn’t want to be mated to Dee, but he also doesn’t want her dead. However, the desire to not be mated to her is stronger.

And this is why they have such rigid rules about mating in heat – his instinctive need to protect his mate should override everything else, but it’s not.

Yeah. This isn’t fucked up at all.

“We can’t afford to lose any more transgenics,” announces Gem. Alec isn’t sure where this is going, but he trusts her with his life. “But we can’t afford to let this kind of behaviour slide.”

Alec sees a number of X’s nodding in agreement, mostly to the last part. They really can’t let this kind of thing go unpunished; it would be a tacit agreement that all you need to do to get the mate you want, is to wait until the female is in heat. There are too many possibilities for abuse, and no one wants that.

“Suggestions?” Brix asks Gem. Alec can tell he doesn’t like the idea of this going unpunished.

“We get them both mated to other people as soon as possible,” says Gem. Alec sits up straight, muscles tense and ready. This is not what he wants, not by a long shot, and tries to communicate that beyond the tightness of his throat. Something primal in him is instantly on alert at some unnamed threat to him and his mate.

The hands on his shoulders increase their pressure, and the shifting of Ali in his arms brings his attention back to himself. Alec makes himself breathe deeply, trying to regain some sense of control. It’s a good plan – the only plan, really. Unless he wants Dee dead – which he’s still undecided about at this point – getting them both mated to someone else is the best plan. His choice is simple: Dee or someone of his choosing.

Either way, Alec’s not coming out of this single.

“And then?” prompts Brix. Alec can see the agreement on his face, and on the faces of those on the Council.

“Lockdown, for now. Restitution for the unlawful mating,” demands Gem.

“We await your choice of mediator,” agrees Mel, looking put out and unhappy. Alec is confused, wondering why Mel is getting so involved in the proceedings. Dee isn’t a part of Mel’s unit – that much Alec knows – but the role she’s playing says something different.

Alec isn’t the only one wondering what’s going on. Gem’s quicker on the uptake, “Are you standing up for their unit?”

Mel looks uncomfortable for an instant. “I’ve agreed to merge their unit with ours.”

Every person in the room stills. Rearranging units was always in the hands of Manticore, never by their choice. That two units are becoming one is unprecedented.

“Since when?” demands Gem.

“We’ve been discussing it for several weeks, but wanted to wait until the next Council meeting to announce our intentions,” explains Mel. Alec breaths a little easier at that, knowing that this is not simply a response to the current situation. “This incident has forced our hand. Once we leave here, Dee, Anna and Siri will be a part of our unit, housed in our territory, and my responsibility.”

“You don’t have to do this now,” Gem points out. “They weren’t part of your unit when this took place; you weren’t at fault. You’re unit doesn’t have to take responsibility for them or offer restitution.”

“The decision to merge our units was made over a week ago, but we held off until the Council meeting. If we hadn’t – if we had joined then – this would not have happened.” Mel turns from Gem to look at Alec for the first time, catching his eyes. “We offer our apologies for what our hesitation has cost.”

Alec blinks and inclines his head in acceptance of the formal apology, though he doesn’t think it’s needed. A quick look at a few other’s show that they feel the same way, but they won’t interfere. Mel has accepted the responsibility of another troublesome unit into her own, and is acting like a unit leader who’s members have broken the rules. Alec’s respect for her ratchets up a notch, because something like this is never easy.

He also feels some guilt, because the X-5’s haven’t been as involved with the younger X-series as they should be. The X-5’s were the first successfully created, so the rules, protocols and structures of their society have evolved from them, and the younger X’s have had to pick up what they could by watching and listening. No one’s taught the X-6’s the intricacies of their system, so they hadn’t known that they could request a Council meeting earlier than the monthly scheduled one. Looking up at Brix and the X-5’s on the Council behind him, Alec sees the same guilt reflected in their faces.

It’s something they’ll have to address, and soon.

“Each unit will be responsible for finding a mate for their unit member, and I suggest you do it quickly,” Brix told Gem and Mel. “Dee will be in lockdown until it is deemed she is no longer a threat to Alec and his future mate. A mediator will be assigned in the next few days, and will be in contact. Is that satisfactory?”

Both Gem and Mel nod, neither looking pleased with the outcome. This is the best any of them can hope for, but it’s still far from ideal.

Brix ends the Council meeting quickly and efficiently, and the room starts clearing fast. Not fast enough, though, because just as Gem’s about to reach him, Alec hears sudden movement and shuffling from across the room. Before his brain can process that the whining voice is that of his mate, he catches her scent too close for comfort.

Shouts and words fly through the air, and Alec barely registers anything other than _her_. She’s the one who’s messed him up this badly; completely ruined his self-control. And if it weren’t for the presence and scent of his unit, of baby Ali in his arms, he would be lost in the instinct to protect and be near his mate. Instead, the pure rage and violent need for blood push the instincts to the side, and when she zips towards him, intent on her claim, Alec moves without any real conscious thought.

It takes a second for his mind to catch up, for the scent of Gem to clear his head a little, but when it does Alec isn’t surprised to find one arm cradling Ali against his shoulder, and his other hand wrapped around Dee’s throat.

This is why mating in heat without consent is forbidden. Alec’s first instinct should be to protect his mate, but all he wants to do is tighten his grip and twist; end this all right now.

He feels a body press up against his side, a warm hand worm its way under his shirt to lie flat against his back. Words start to penetrate the haze of violent rage clouding his mind.

“-breathe, Alec. Just breathe and relax.” Gem. Gem at his side, bringing him down from the killing edge. Her hand is rubbing soothing circles on his back, and the tactile contact helps him calm. “Let her go, Alec. She’s just a child – a silly girl who doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

Alec blinks some more, finally able to see the red rimmed eyes and tear stained face. Dee is crying, her eyes wide and terrified as she grasps at the hand around her throat.

It takes a supreme effort of will, but Alec finally manages to unclench his hand, releasing Dee into the waiting arms of her unit.

“Keep her away from me,” Alec rasps, his voice betraying the frayed reins of his control.

Gem wraps both arms around his waist. “Take him to my place,” she tells someone behind him as she untangles herself from him a moment later. Alec doesn’t bother to look around him, just starts a quick retreat to the nearest exit. He wants to be away from other transgenics right now, no matter the series or unit. He doesn’t trust himself around anyone outside his own unit and it bothers him.

Just as he’s about to exit the room, he hears, “What the hell is going on here?”

Max. Of course she’s here, and of course she’s missed the meeting. No one’s told her about it, because most of them still don’t trust her intentions. She wants them to be more like ordinaries, and what’s happened today is pure transgenic, through and through. She won’t understand, but worse than that, she won’t even try.

Alec doesn’t bother to turn around, even as she calls out to him. Let others try to soothe the savage she-bitch, he’s done.

He still needs another shower or three to try and wash the feel of Dee’s hands from his body and mind. He also needs to have a talk with Gem and the rest of his unit about finding him a new mate, sooner rather than later.

Max can be dealt with another day, preferably by someone else.

His life just got more complicated, without any input from him. Again.

Just typical.

END


End file.
